A Prayer for a Dying Loved One
For the bedside vigil — peace for the one leaving, and comfort for those who stay.
Sitting with someone near the end is holy and hard. This prayer is for the bedside — for peace for the one departing, and strength for those keeping watch.
The prayer
Father, we are walking through the valley of the shadow now, and we need to know you are here. Be the Shepherd at this bedside.
For the one we love, I ask for peace — free from pain, free from fear, wrapped in the sure knowledge that they are yours and you are near.
Give us who wait the grace to say what must be said: the thank-yous, the forgivenesses, the goodbyes and the see-you-agains. Take away our fear of the moment.
Receive them gently into your arms when the time comes, and hold us who remain. This is not the end for those who trust you — help us believe it, even now. Amen.
Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.
Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me — the psalm for the last vigil, and the surest company through it.
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